To get bigger muscles, you need bigger muscle cells, and that means increasing muscle-cell “volume.” That’s why cell-volumizing supplements are so popular these days among bodybuilders.

Muscle-cell volume is naturally sustained by creatine, muscle glycogen and water. Studies tell us that by packing more water into muscles, test subjects have been able to gain several pounds of muscle water within days, which sound like only a short-term benefit since it’s not muscle protein. But scientists believe that boosting muscle-cell volume can switch on anabolic pocesses for longer-lasting gains in muscle mass. In other words, these temporary gains can lead to long-term gains, which are the goal of every bodybuilder.

How do you increase the volume of your muscle cells? Here are four cell-volumizing strategies that will help you make some of the fastest possible gains in lean body mass.

#1 CREATINE — THE LEADER

HOW IT WORKS First among equals in the cell-volumizing department is creatine monohydrate. Although it’s well established that creatine supplementation allows you to tolerate harder training (which helps you provide your muscles with a more intense stimulus for growth), it also boosts muscle-cell volume. It does so by increasing the amount of phosphocreatine stored within muscle, which draws extra water into the muscle cells for a bigger pump by a force called osmosis.

Because this initial weight-gain effect is due to increased water uptake by muscle, you will likely lose some of it when you stop taking the supplement. Nevertheless, the cellvolumizing effect itself may be the most anabolic thing about creatine over the long term. Creatine has the ability to enlarge and stretch muscle cell membranes; scientists suspect that if creatine is taken consistently, that ability also results in improvements in the rate at which you gain muscle-protein mass itself. Apparently, the stretching effect of cell-volumizing ingredients in general leads to faster synthesis and slower destruction of muscle protein–which should produce a net anabolic effect over time.

WHAT TO DO Although most studies testing creatine in advanced athletes used regimens of 5 grams (g) of creatine four times per day, other research found this 20 g daily dose unnecessary for long-term use. One study found that 3 g of creatine per day for 28 days sufficiently saturated muscle phosphocreatine stores. These levels were maintained when the dose was reduced to 2 g of creatine per day. Bodybuilders may have much more muscle mass than the subjects typically used in research, so a long-term maintenance dose of 3-5 g of creatine daily should cover most bodybuilders.

We recommend taking creatine in two or three divided doses of 1 1/2 to 2 g to ensure the best absorption. One of those doses should be taken after a workout due to increased uptake by muscle at that time (one or two other doses can be taken morning or evening). Always take creatine with a liter or two of water, 50 g of protein and 50 g of carbohydrate, as a rise in insulin magnifies the increase in muscle phosphocreatine.

HOT TIP Adding 250-500 milligrams (mg) of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) to each dose of creatine may also help. Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, with McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, recently found that 250 mg of ALA taken with each of four doses of creatine at intervals throughout the day improved muscle phosphocreatine levels in healthy young men. The improvement was over and above that resulting from a carb-induced rise in insulin (carbohydrates were given each time, as well). Nonetheless, the subjects did not exercise during the study. For bodybuilders, the full significance of the synergistic effect between ALA and creatine requires further research.

#2 GLYCOGEN – THE OTHER MUSCLE MASS

HOW IT WORKS Inside muscles is a fluid syrup called glycogen. Although glycogen is the storage form of carbohydrates, it is mostly water (the alternative to having dry starch or gritty sugar in your body). The fact that glycogen is only one part carbohydrate to a whopping three parts water makes it useful to bodybuilders as a major contributor to muscle size. In fact, next to water and muscle protein itself, muscle glycogen is one of the largest contributors to muscle mass in the body.

Adding to the value of glycogen in increasing cell volume is the fact that the water inside muscle cells doesn’t mix much with glycogen, as if each were stored in separate compartments. This means that the cell-volumizing effect of glycogen is additional to that of creatine, in the same way that carbs and creatine have their own effects on muscle-cell volumization (another reason for taking them together).

The best time to consume carbs is postworkout. After exercise, the sugar you eat is whisked into your muscles at a faster clip and converted to glycogen at a higher than normal rate, reducing the likelihood that those carbs will be stored in less desirable places.

WHAT TO DO Loading with carbs for several days can double the amount of muscle glycogen. To a bodybuilder, that means a significant increase in muscle mass, even though it isn’t in the form of protein. A bodybuilder who consumes about 40 g of carbs per hour will usually note big glycogen gains. That’s one and one-half medium-sized bananas or eight ounces of yams every hour. (A medium banana has about 27 g of carbohydrates; eight ounces of yams has 40. Total carb counts of other foods can be found in nutrition books and on Web sites that list nutrient contents.) For insights on glycogen and carbing up before a bodybuilding contest, see the sidebar “Contest Carbs: The Glycogen Connection.

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